The Time of Shadows

Oops, we released an ancient evil...

Unterbloom

Town population: 4,861

This town is a magical wonder as it floats completely free of Unterbloom Lake. Town and lake are named after Magus Unterbloom(link), the Magi that accomplished the magical feat not too long ago. Records indicate that Magus Unterbloom obtained the artifact that floats the town in his travels across the country and once he found this area that is a natural nexus of arcane energies, started researching a way to utilize and channel that power. Once his research was complete, he commenced his ritual. A ritual that tore great chunks of stone and earth from the lake bed and fused them all together over the course of five days. Magus Unterbloom named his floating island and granted open access to any and all casters who wished to further the understanding of the arcane arts. Magus Unterbloom contacted the House of Loricatius(link) to facilitate the development of a town upon his island, which they were more than ready to help him with. His only law outside of the laws of the land, is that if anybeing of learning makes use of his island, they must contribute some new knowledge to the grand library on the island. Unterbloom has since been known as a haven for wizards, sorcerers, warlocks, bards and any other profession involving the arcane arts. Many of the citizens that don’t focus on research and theory have learned a trade or profession that caters to the prominent presence of magic, such as creation, transference and customization of magic tools, armors and weapons. As for Magus Unterbloom, he stayed on the island until most of the town’s main structures were finished, such as the grand library and the town hall, then left the island with a promise that he would return one day for the knowledge contained in his library. It has been over 40 years since he disappeared.

During the chaotic time around the Shadow Lord’s rise, the orb focusing the power to keep Unterbloom in the air was stolen. This caused the island to crash to the lake below and would have sunk below the waves if not for the quick actions of some of the mages present when the orb was taken. First hand accounts of the event recount how a mage of some high standing, Lord Greasius, insisted that the orb was in grave danger and fought for increased guards around the artifact. The concerned Lord even volunteered his very own elite warforged guard for the task. After several days at his post, the warforge turned on the other guards, brutally slaying most of them and breached the protections around the orb. With the orb in hand, the warforge managed to fight to a close-by magic cirlce and activate it, escaping the city. Without the orb, the city began to plummet. Several mages made great sacrifices to slow the fall of the city enough that it wasn’t shattered when it hit the water. The resulting waves from the city touching down damaged the neighboring lakeside villages significantly. Efforts to keep the city afloat are stop-gap and expensive. Lord Greasius was shouldering the majority of the costs in the beginning, but his riches were swiftly reduced and the Unterbloom community at large sees keeping the city afloat a doomed effort and are focusing more on how much they can save and move off the island than on long term fixes for the island itself.